Improvement in sugar-cane harvesters



4 SheetsSheet 1.

W. P. JOHNSON & J. DOYLE. CANE HARVESTER.

No. 30,226. ?atented Oct. 2, 1860.

Minerresr E v W. F. JOHNSON & J. DOYLE. CANE HARVBSTER.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P ate nted Oct. 2, 1860.

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W. P. JOHNSON & J. DOYLE.

CANE HARVESTER.

No. 30,226. Patented Oct. 2; 1860.

Fig". 4.

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

W. F. JOHNSON & J. DOYLE. CANE HARVESTER.

No. 30,226. Patented Oct. 2, 1860.

Fig?

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JoHNsoN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND J. DOYLE, or

WETUMPKA, ALABAMA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SUGAR-CANE HARVES-TERS,

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 30,926., dated October Q, 1860.

To aZl zbhum, it may concern Be it known that we, W. F. JOHNSON, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State .of Pennsylvania, and J. DOYLE, of Wetun pka, in the county of Coosa and State of Alabama, have invented a new and Improved SugaPOane-Harvester; and we dohereby deelarefthat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had'to the accompanying drawings,-making a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side sectional view of our in-' vention, taken in the line xw, Fig.4. Fig. 2

is a transverse vertical section of" the same, takenin the line 3 y, Fig. 4.; Fig. 3', a transverse section of a portion-of the same, taken in the line 5 z, Fig. 4, Fig. 4, a planor top viewoi: the same; Fig. 5, an inverted plan of .the same; Fig. 6, a detached view of one of the cutters.

Siiriilar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures. :'The'object of this invention is to obtain machine which will cut the standing cane two rows simultaneously, top the cane, and allow of, the same being discharged in gavels, the

I with the rows.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand aiid construct our invention, we

wilL proceed to describe it.

A A are two parallel beams, to the. upper surface of each of which there is permanently secured a platform, B, and to the under surfaces of's'aid beams there is attached an axle,

" (3,the wheels D D of which supportthe back.

part of the machine.

The axle Ois formed of two parts, a a, each of which is attached by a screw-bolt, b, to its beam A. The inner ends of the parts a a of the axle overlap each other, and they are encompassed by a clasp, E, through which a set- F F are riglitand left screw-shafts, which pass through the beams AA, and have perforated hubs d at their centers, to receive levers by which the screw-shafts are turned. By lowering the set-screw c and'turning the shafts F, the-beams A A, with their parts attached,

-rnay be adjusted nearer to or from each other,

as circumstances may require.

Each wheel D has a bevel-wheel, G, attached to its inner side, and these wheels gear into pinions H, which are on the inner ends of shafts I,'the bearings c of which are attached to the beams A A. On the front end of shafts- I there are attached toothed wheels J, and these wheels, when the machine is in operation, gear into pinions K at the upper ends of vertical shafts L, which are fitted into proper bearings ff. The lower bearing f of each 'shaft L is allowed to slide, and said bearing is fitted in or to a slotted plate, attached to the beams A. The bearings f of each shaft L are connected by a lever, h, to a vertical rod,

vate either or both shafts L and throw the pinions K out of gear with thewheels J To the lower end of each shaft L there is at tached a cutter, 0. These cutters may be in' the form of saws, as shown clearly in Fig. 6; or they may be formed by curved cutting-edges j made at the peripheries of disks 7:, as shown clearly in Fig. 5.

' On the upper ends of shafts L, above the pinions K, there are placed pinions P, and these pinions gear into pinions Q at the lower ends of shafts B; These shafts B have each horizontal heaters S attached, and a knife, T, the latter rotating under plates U, which are attached to sides V on upright-s 1. Each plate U has a leger blade Orknife, 7):, under which the knives T rotate, and each plate also has'a pendent frame, gt, attached to it,.to which a cord, 0, is connected, the cords 0 being attached to windlassesp. The plates U have curved rods \V attached, said rods projecting forward in front of the machine, as'shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 5, and to the back sides of the rods W there are attached curved rods X, which extend backward and downward, as shown in the figures aforesaid.

To the front part of the machine there are attached bars Y, which extend around at the outer sides of the gearing P Q, and serve as guards for the same, as shown in Fig. 1.

To each platform B, at its outer side, there is attached-horizontal arms a, the outer ends of which are bent downward and have longitudinal bars A attached; These bars are at the outer sides of the wheels D, and each bar has pendant curved rods Z attached. There is also attached to the outer side of each platform B a bar, I), and in these bars the fulcra of levers B are placed. These levers extend down below the bars A to the lower ends of the rods Z. :(SeeFig. 3.)

On the upper part of the'machine there are attached inclined troughs C", said troughs extending downward from the knives T toward the back end of the machine, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. v c The front part of the machine is supported by a caster-wheel, D, the shaft E of which passes up through abox, G, attached to abox, H, which is secured to the front parts of the beams A A on the shaft E, and within the box G there is placed a hub, I, said hub being secured to the shaft by a set-screw, bi; The front:

part of the machine, it will be seen, rests on thehubJI, and by raising or lowering the latter on its shaft E the front part of the machine'may.

be elevated to the desired height to regulate the height of the cutters 0. To the upper end 'of the shaft E a lever, J, is attached.

The operation is as follows: The draft-animals are attached to a bar, K, on shaft E, and as the machine is drawnalong the cutters O are rotated from the wheels D through the medium of the gearing previously described,and the cutters are adjusted by means of the right and left screw-shafts F F so as to be opposite two 'adjoiningrows of cane, the concomitant parts of each cutter of course being adjusted with them, as each part of the machine has a platform, B, a beam, A, and an independent axle, a, as formerly described. It will be seen, therefore, that the cutters may be adjusted in line with the slides or bearings f, levers h, and

with two adjoining rows-0f cane, whether the same be near or far apart. The cutters O, as they rotate, cut the cane just above the surface of the ground, and the knives T on the shafts R out the tops off from the cane, said tops being useless. The knives T are assisted in their'operation by the ledger blades orv knives m on the plates U; a'nd'the knives T, as well. as the pla'tes- ,,U, may be raised or lowered by turning Windlass p to suit the height of the cane, so that no vvaluable'--part of the cane will be cut off. The cane thus cut at both top and bottom is thrown inward by the i 'beaters S, and the curved rods X conduct the cut cane down to the curved rods Z. Vhen a suflicient quantity of cane to form a gavel is lodged in these rods Z, the driver, by actuat ing the lever B, throws the gavels out upon the ground. The curved rods Vi? serve to conduct the cane to the cutters,'and the top of the cane ascut falls down in the inclined troughs O, and are discharged at the back end of the machine.

It will be seen thatby elevating the shafts L the pinions K and P will be simultaneously moved out of gear with their respective wheels, K and consequently the rotation of the shafts L Letters Patent, is-- 1;. The double axle C, or an axle formed of two parts, a a, connected by a clasp, E, or its equivalent, in connection with the right and left screw-shafts F1 fitted in the parallel beams A A, towhich the parts a a of the axle are attached, for the purpose of admitting of the lateral adjustment of the cutters O to suit.

the width of the space between the rows of cane, as set forth.

2. The employment or use of the cutters O- and knives T, when placed on shafts T R, and used in connection with ledger-blades m, beat ers S, and guide-rods W, for thepurpose of cutting simultaneously the mine at top and bot-tom, as described. I

3. The arrangement of the guide-rods X and I pendent curved rods Z, in connection with the discharging-levers B,.-substantially as shown, for the purpose of allowing the cut cane to be discharged from the machine in gavels, as set forth.

4. The arrangement of the sliding shafts L shafts M, substantially as shown, to admit, when necessary, of the cutters .O, as well as the knives T, being readily thrown out of gear, and the cutters O at the same time elevated.

W. F. JOHNSON. J. DOYLE.

Witnesses: Bonner HU'rcmNsoN, Lewis G. BULL, I J, A. BLACK,

WlVL-FA-RRIOR. 

